In today's first reading John gave us a highly imaginative picture of the afterlife

Saturday, 11/29/14

The whole world now follows the Gregorian calendar, but
there was a time when every country followed its own calendar, and the Church
had its own. Back then, this was the last day of the year, and a new church year
beginning tomorrow with the First
Sunday of the year.

The Church saw today not only as the last day of the year,
but also the last day for this world. St. John, in his Book of Revelation tried
putting into words the unspeakable wonders that would come to be as this world
is replaced by a greater one.

In one of his letters when he was faced with the task of
describing his vision of the afterlife he threw up his hands saying, “We are
already God’s children, but as to what we shall be, it has not as yet been
revealed.” That was the truth, but in today’s reading John came up with imagery
to describe the indescribable joys he felt coming upon him.

From a time when there was no type of government other than kingship,
John pictured God sitting upon a royal throne. From that time when tribesmen
sought protection by having their powerful leaders name tattooed on their
foreheads, John saw us protected by having the name of God tattooed on our
foreheads. From two thousand years before the Internet or the first Wal-Mart,
John pictured us picking what we needed right off the trees.

We might look at an
alternate imaginary of the end time in “The Holy City.”